III
The Memoirs, called by Herzen himself Past and Thoughts, are divided into five Parts. This translation, made six years ago from the Petersburg edition of 1913, contains Parts I and II. These were written in London in 1852-1853, and printed in London, at 36 Regent’s Square, in the Russian journal called The Pole-Star.
Part I has not, I believe, been translated into English before. A translation of Part II was published in London during the Crimean war;[[3]] but this was evidently taken from a German version by someone whose knowledge of German was inadequate. The German translation of the Memoirs by Dr. Buek[[4]] seems to me very good; but it is defective: whole chapters of the original are omitted without warning.
[3]. My Exile in Siberia, by Alexander Herzen. (Hurst and Blackett, London, 1855). Herzen was not responsible for the misleading title, which caused him some annoyance.
[4]. Erinnerungen von Alexander Herzen, by Dr. Otto Buek (Berlin, 1907).
To make the narrative easier to follow, I have divided it up into numbered sections, which Herzen himself did not use. I have added a few footnotes.
June 5, 1923.
J. D. Duff.
PART I
NURSERY AND UNIVERSITY
(1812-1834)